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Minecraft

Have Video Games Inspired A New Generation Of Construction Creatives?

If you have children between 8 and 17 the chances are that you have Minecraft installed on one of your devices. With its blocky 8 bit graphics and seemingly shallow gameplay it has kept children (and some adults) enthralled for over five years. After Tetris and Wii Sports, it is the biggest selling video game of all time.

With most triple AAA video games requiring a bigger production team than all but the biggest big budget movies, Minecraft is an anomaly. Developed almost entirely by one person, Markus ‘Notch’ Pearson, Minecraft grew without the backing and support of a major publisher. After a lengthy alpha release, Notch gave up his full time job before selling the IP to Microsoft for $2.5 billion USD!

Over the years his firm, Mojang, have added further layers of resource based complexities and different scenarios including a survival mode. However, their fan base have embraced the ability to create and enjoy complex structures above all else.

Indeed, some of the landscapes that have been produced are simply stunning. When you look at the effort and commitment that people, often teenagers, are putting into the game. It’s hard not to be impressed.

As the Minecraft generation gets older, are we seeing this manifesting itself in other ways? Universities around the world have already embraced the younger generation’s passion for structural creation.

The UK based Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) are running an annual competition to produce a three bedroom house in Minecraft and research from Queensland University of Technology suggests that teachers can use Minecraft to assist in teaching a number of subjects including maths, design, art and geography,

Ulster University have modded a version of the game with Architectural technology researcher and lecturer at Ulster University, David Comiskey, saying: “As the economy continues to recover it is vital that we attract young talent into the workforce to help drive future growth of the construction sector. The aim of the game is to promote the relevance of construction related professions to school children and inspire them to pursue further study and careers in the industry.”

Locally, according to data from the Universities Australia site, in 2015 applications into the Architecture and Building sector were up 8% with only Education showing a higher percentage increase. According to Grad Australia, construction recruitment and civil companies made up 8% of the top 100 graduate hiring firms, second only to the IT sector.

That said; design, construction recruitment and engineering jobs continue to make up a large proportion of the Australian Skilled Occupations List (SOL) . In five years time, will we be able to thank Minecraft for helping Australia to balance labour market woes? I certainly hope so.

Has Minecraft become a fixation in your house? Will this week’s Farming Simulator 2017 mark a similar rise in agriculture!?

When not playing Destiny online, Simon Walker is an experienced recruiter at Talent Web Construction Recruitment. He loves statistics, market trends and talking to people. Contactable on 02 8075 9918 and swalker@talentweb.com.au